27-05-2025
Two in three Italians won't vote in June referendums, poll says
The poll, which was conducted by Youtrend for news site HuffPost Italia, found that only 32 percent of eligible voters plan to cast their votes in the June 8th-9th referendums.
These include four votes on labour law provisions and a closely-watched citizenship vote on halving the current 10-year wait time for naturalisation claims down to five.
HuffPost called Youtrend's findings 'discouraging', saying they validated long-standing concerns that the referendums may not be able to meet the voter turnout (over 50 percent) needed for their results to be valid.
Should the votes fail to reach the required turnout (or quorum), they will automatically be considered void, regardless of their outcomes.
, particularly the citizenship one.
The figure fell to 12 percent when considering supporters of Meloni's Brothers of Italy party alone.
Turnout was expected to be high among left-wing voters.
Youtrend estimated that up to 82 percent of Democratic Party (PD) voters and around 77 percent of Greens and Left Alliance (AVS) supporters would cast their votes in the upcoming referendums.
Turnout was expected to drop to around 50 percent for voters of centrist parties including +Europa, Azione e Italia Viva, according to the research centre.
The Youtrend poll was released amid growing calls from members of Italy's ruling coalition to abstain from voting.
Roberto Vannacci, an MEP for the anti-immigration League party, said last week that the referendums 'must fail'.
"The first four referendum questions were proposed by the left to repeal a law made by the left,' whereas the citizenship question 'only serves to drum up electoral support,' he said.
Grazia Di Maggio, a member of Meloni's Brothers of Italy, also condemned the referendums, calling them a 'clumsy attempt to sabotage the government'.
'I believe Italians will have better things to do [than voting] on June 8th and 9th,' she added.
The government's attempts to encourage abstention have sparked outrage among members of the centre-left coalition backing the referendums.
Riccardo Magi, leader of the +Europa party, said that the hard-right coalition's 'coordinated strategy' to boycott the referendums shows 'a lack of awareness of the institutions and role they hold'.
Italy needs 'a democratic rebellion' to fight abstentionism, he added.
The leader of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, also urged people to vote, saying that Italians 'have an extraordinary opportunity to take part in a vote that can improve the country's future by fighting job insecurity, increasing workplace safety, and finally helping to award citizenship to those who are born in or choose Italy as their home'.
